Typically, an electrical system includes a number of circuits that communicate with one another to perform system applications. The circuits can be on the same integrated circuit chip or on separate integrated circuit chips. Often, the electrical system includes one or more controllers, such as a micro-processor, and one or more memory devices, such as a random access memory (RAM) device. The controller communicates with the memory to store data and to read the stored data.
The RAM can be any suitable type of RAM, such as a single data rate dynamic RAM (SDR-DRAM), a double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR-SDRAM), or a graphics double data rate SDRAM (GDDR-SDRAM). Also, the RAM can be any suitable generation of RAM, including double data rate two SDRAM (DDR2-SDRAM) and higher generations of DRAM. Usually, each new generation of DRAM performs different command operations and operates at an increased data rate from the previous generation. A state machine can be used to control a DRAM and provide the command operations and features of a DRAM type and generation.
Customers choose the DRAM they need based on characteristics such as data rates, memory sizes, and features needed for their applications. Fluctuating customer demands make it difficult to predict which features, data rates, and sizes will result in the largest profit to the manufacturer. As a result, manufacturers provide an ever increasing variety of DRAMs to the marketplace. Manufacturers supply DRAMs having different data rates, memory sizes, and features to meet the ever increasing number and variety of system applications, such as consumer and mobile applications, graphic applications, personal computer applications, and server applications.
While some DRAM suppliers have the resources to design many different DRAM chips and offer the customer a wide variety of devices, other suppliers have a smaller or more limited amount of resources for creating a broad product portfolio and maximizing profits.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.